Breakfast at Denny'sSo I woke up early on that Friday morning. I felt well rested from having spent the night in the hotel room instead of a train as I had the previous night. My presentation was not until 2:15 that day so I contemplated what to do with my morning. I really needed to get to Whole Foods, our food budget was getting sucked up fast and Nykki was complaining about a sore throat but the bus trip there would be long and I wasn't prepared to rush down there and then rush back for my presentation.
So we attended the Are We Gods in Embroy session in which D. Michael Quinn was the repsondant. At lunch time they were showing clips from the Daily Show and Colbert Report regarding Mormonism so the kids and I went to Denny's and got some nachos to-go and took them back to the session room and watched the clips. They were so funny as always - gotta love Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert! I was actually surprised to find so many people laughing because they pulled no punches, including poking light fun at the current and past prophets, which usually doesn't go over well, even in liberal Mormon crowds yet everyone seemd to understand it was a joke and no one seemed especially upset about it.
After that it was time for my presentation; Heavenly Mother, A Look at Magick, the Divine Feminine and Homebirth in the Mormon Community of North America. Ronan was really tired so I thought he would sleep through it but no such luck. As soon as I got up to talk he began babbeling and then it quickly turned into screaming. I tired nursing him but it didn't work, he was mad. That's when my wonderful Sunstone angel Sara stepped in. She's my respondants sister (my responant had gotten sick and was unable to make it). Sara wrapped the kids in her loving arms and in no time at all Ronan was sleeping peacefully as I continued.
Scholar moms unite!!
I loved giving my talk! I couldn't believe how dry my mouth got, it felt like I needed to take a drink every few seconds. I tried to be as engaging as possible and made a few jokes but I had no idea if I was even being understood. I started to feel like maybe I wasn't making any sense at all. During the question period however I felt a lot better. I was able to speak to the people there (and by the way I have no idea how many people were there because the number fluctuated a lot but I would average it around 30?) I recieved many postive comments and excellent questions that I felt comfortable answering.
At the end I sat at a the table and many people came up and told me how much they liked my talk. One mom and daughter team had come to Sunstone just for my talk. I met some wonderful people and I hope to stay in contact with them all :) One man who had worked at a hosptal for years told me that women should have natural births in the hospital because "things can go wrong so fast." I was polite but firmly dissagreed with him. I was unable to convince him that hospitals are usually what cause the things that go wrong in te first place.
Ronan listens to a session while standing on his headAfter I left the session I took the kids to the hotel gift shop and bought them a bear puzzel. I returned and tried to catch most of Elizabeth Quick's Emma Smith as Shaman presentation the respondant being Margret Tuscano! The kids were a bit too restless and I didn't make the whole thing, we returned before it was over to watch cartoons and nap.
That night was the What Women Want session followed by the feminist dinner. I barely made the end of the session because the kids had been sleeping. On my way out of the session I ran into John from Mind on Fire. I didn't realize he would be there! What a cutie he is and such a nice guy!
I managed to make it through the feminist dinner with too cranky hungry kids. Nykki ordered Mac and Cheese with a side of fruit and wimpered the whole time about his late arriving fruit. It was wonderful just to be in the same room as so many brilliant minds even if my conversation skills where heavily dampened by fussy children.
Soon it was back to the hotel where Nykki fell in love with the movie The Fugitive (go figure) and we all eventuall went to sleep.
The next morning we had to check out of the Sheraton and check into the Red Lion down the street because our reservations at the very full Sheraton only extended as far as Friday night. I packed us up and went to my last session which was on Mormonism and Spirtualism.
It was a fun laid back session and I felt completely at ease the whole time. I share some of my practices of fairy card reading, dream interpretations and shared my expereince joining the church from a witchy prespective. Two women presented on their experinces of being professional mediums and another woman presented a scholarly presepective followed by the lovely Doe who gave us some insight into her great research on New Age Mormonism.
The kids and I had had a big breakfast at Denny's so come time for lunch we bought popcorn and browsed the bookstore. I found two great books by Ogden Kraut. 95 Thesis lays out how the scriptures and the founders of the church practiced their faith and what they said God wanted from the Saints and then compares that with today - surprise, there's a big difference! That book is coming with me to EVERY GP class from now on. Even if I bite my lip and don't share it's citations it wil help keep me sane. It's wonderful and you will all hear much from it on this blog in the furture. I also bought Jesus Was Married by Ogden Kraut and a copy of the awesome Mormon Worker newspaper.
It was the last day of Sunstone and I was bummed I must admit. I felt so at ease there, like so many people understood me, I didn't want it to end. Doe and I had dinner that night at Olive Garden. Which takes me into a rant.
Downtown Salt Lake City has become Disneyland! Everything is corporate and synergized. It's a strip mall! PF Chang's, Wallgreens, IMax, etc. I looked and looked and could not find what appeared to be any local owned businesses. I know some must exist but not knowing my way around I was left looking up an down the streets lost in a maze of bulidings like the Chase Bank, so large they dwarfed the Temple. It's clear to see what people in Salt Lake are worshipping now. The Temple, instead of being a grand monument to the Saints trek across the country to establish Zion has become a quaint, fairytale like, Disney castle at the heart of big business. The whole thing made me sick.
Stayed tuned for days 5 and 6 coming up tomorrow where I will trill you with the tale of our 9 hour Temple Square visit and our Amtrak horror story!
